Transport pledges worth billions of pounds have failed to appease campaigners in the North who are demanding an overhaul of funding.

Philip Hammond’s plans for transport infrastructure included a £1.7bn Transforming Cities Fund to boost links between prosperous city centres and struggling suburbs.

It will include £243m for Greater Manchester over four years to help deliver the region’s 2040 transport strategy, including cutting congestion on the roads.

We need £59bn catch-up cash to drive the growth that will turn around the ever-widening productivity gap between North and South. This is not rocket science.

Ed Cox, IPPR North

The Chancellor also said £300bn will be invested to ensure the HS2 high-speed rail project can accommodate future rail improvements in the North and the Midlands.

He said £337m will be spent on replacing the 40-year-old trains on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Mr Hammond said £30m will go towards trials on improving mobile and digital technology on trains on the trans-Pennine route, which runs between Manchester and Yorkshire.

The Government will also continue to work with Transport for London on the funding of the £30bn Crossrail 2 scheme – a proposed new north-south rail link through the capital.

‘Biggest rail programme since Victorian times’

Mr Hammond said the Government was investing in the “biggest rail programme since Victorian times” and the “largest road building programme since the 70s”.

But campaigners in the North, where more than 87,000 people have signed a petition calling for the trans-Pennine rail line from Manchester to Leeds to be electrified, say the region’s are calling for even more investment to help the region catch up with London.

Ed Cox, director of the Institute for Public Policy Research North think-tank, said: “We welcome the drip drip of small investments in northern transport infrastructure but nothing the Chancellor has announced will bring transformational change the northern economy needs to see.

”We need £59bn catch-up cash to drive the growth that will turn around the ever-widening productivity gap between North and South. This is not rocket science.“

Analysis: Northern transport woes

The trans-Pennine rail line between Manchester and Leeds has become a symbol of northern demands for greater transport investment after the Government rolled back on plans to electrify it earlier this year.

More than 87,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Government to reinstate the plan and to give the region £59bn so it could “catch up” with London.

Figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research North said planned public and private transport expenditure will see Londoners get nearly £2,000 per person, compared with £400 per person in the North.

But Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, came out fighting on a visit to Manchester in September after he was accused of “abdicating responsibility” for the region.

He announced £5m would be spent on developing plans to install “digital signaling technology” on the trans-Pennine line – a move described as a “downgrade” on his transport promises by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

One passenger told i when we travelled the route in August: “London gets all the money and all we get is a kick in the teeth.”

Just last week the Government said it was making the “game-changing” decision of putting regional body Transport for the North on a statutory footing, although it will not have the decision-making powers or ability to raise capital as Transport for London.

Today’s £30m for the trans-Pennine line will be used to consult on commercial options to improve mobile communications for rail passengers, install trackside infrastructure and roll out full-fibre and 5G networks.

‘Nodding donkeys’

Train companies told i earlier this year they are investing in excess of £1bn on services including removing the 40-year-old Pacer trains known in the North as “nodding donkeys”.

But promises by the Chancellor of cash for improved mobile communications are likely to do little to ease concerns in the region that the Government has back-tracked on it promises to improve the route.

The cash for the so-called Crossrail for the North pales into insignificance compared with the £30bn expected to the spent on Crossrail 2 in London.

iNews

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